CES 2014 – What Is Going To Be This Year’s Big Thing?

CES is back for yet another year, but before we start on the meetings and the laborious task of looking around the exhibitions that span thousands of square meters, I want to take a step back and make a few predictions on what will be the biggest technologies to be seen. Last year at CES 2013, talk of the show with out a doubt was 4K. With televisions and home entertainment now one of the key focal points for our digital lives, having a more immersive experience in the home and especially with a picture that has more definition to it, is paramount. At last years show we saw 4K screens all over the show floor and sizes up to a jaw dropping 100″ across.

Since the show last year we have seen 4K screens and monitors appear in greater numbers through the consumer channels from all the big names such as LG, Sony and Samsung to name only a few and the price has considerably dropped down as well.

The other big talk of the show was ultrabooks. Communication and working whilst on the move is one of the biggest focus points that as reviewers we have been seeing change in the last two years and the mobile and smart phone markets have exploded which only proves that we are demanding more and more from the technology that fits in our hands. Whilst tablets are a key item that we all look to have as part of our tech inventory, the creation of smaller, more powerful and most importantly lighter laptops has changed the way in which we think about how we work whilst on the go. Since Intel released their Haswell line of CPUs, the amount of power that can be packed into a small footprint has vastly improved and due to their impeccably low power consumption, the era of the ultrabook has well and truely set in.

Looking forward and on to this years show, I have been thinking long and hard over what could possibly be the must see items at this years show. 4K monitors and ultrabooks are certainly going to be an important aspect, but I’ve got a feeling that there is something even more close to home that changes the way in which we interact with our data.

Over the last few months the need to get access to our data – no matter where we are – has appeared as a growing need. Naturally what I’m referring to here is Cloud storage. Services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud and Skydrive have been around for a good couple of years now, however as we know they can get expensive when the need for large capacities becomes a factor and to top this off, there is the underlying worry that you don’t know exactly where your data is and if the providers are snooping around your data. Consequently we have seen vendors such as Western Digital change the way we think about Cloud storage with the release of the MyCloud and the EX4 cloud storage units which sit in your own home and give to you total control over who has access to your data – and when!

As a result, I’ve got a strong feeling that we are going to be seeing a lot of people advertising and talking about their cloud storage solutions, but moving away from the computer and data side of things we have a feeling that we are going to see more advanced technology in the car being shown off. Hybrid cars are by no means anything new, but what I’m referring to here is the way in which we interact with our cars and the intelligence they have to prevent accidents and help us to navigate our way through the world with a more ‘connected’ feel. At this moment in time we have to set our destinations from the sat nav in the car, but imagine if we could set all this from our phone or desktop before we even set off and by the time we get to the car, it already knows where you want to go etc. – imagine a world where the car can monitor your driving performance and if it senses that you are over intoxicated or tired it will alert you to pull over and take a break? The amount of lives that could be saved would be monumental.

There is only one real way to find out what is going to be this years buzz word and that is to get to the exhibition halls and discover it for real. What are your thoughts? What do you reckon will be this years talking points? Does Cloud storage and a safer driving experience tickle the taste buds, or would you like to see other new technologies making their way though to the rapidly growing digital world? Let us know your thoughts below. For now though we can only but wait until the show doors open in a matter of hours.